Perfecting color-printing machine



(No Model.) 2'Sheets--Sheet 1.

W. H. R. TOYE.

PERFEGTING COLOR PRINTING MACHINE.

No. 364,976. Patented June 14, 1887.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR N. PETERS. Phowuhc n her. Washinghm. 0.0.

(No Model.)

' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W.- H. R. TOYE.

PERFEGTING COLOR PRINTING MACHINE.

Patented June l i,

R O T N E V N WITNESSES:

N PHERS PhMu-Lillwgrnphar, Wnhinglon. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

\VILLIAM H. R. TOYE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PERFECTING COLOR-PRINTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,976, dated June 14, 1887.

Application filed July 17, 1886.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it ,known that I, XVILLIAM H. R. TOYE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Perfecting Color-Printing Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part hereof.

My invention has for its object the improvement of that class of color-printing presses which print in one orseveral colors upon one or both sides ofa sheet of paper, cloth, or other material at one passage of the latter through the machine.

My machine may be used for either lithog raphy, zincography, typography, or zylography. iVhere the printing is to be done in several colors, it is accomplished by subjecting the fabric to be printed upon to a series of multiple impressions in its passage through the machine.

The nature of my improvements will fully appear from the following specification and claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1, Sheet 1, is an elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is a detached broken cross-sectional view of the ink-roller rack attachment. Fig. 8, Sheet 2, is a front elevation of the machine; Fig. 4, a contracted broken view of one end of a plate-cylinder, showing one of the endless bands passing over it.

In my drawings I have shown simply those parts which are necessary to display my improvements, omitting some parts which are old and well known to those skilled in the art.

A, Fig. 1, is the frame of the machine; B, the feed-board.

D and E are two large cog-wheels at the ends of two plate-cylinders, which latter print, say, the outside of the sheet. F G are similar cog-wheels at the ends of two plate-cylinders which print the inside of the sheet; H, apnlley driven by a belt, H, which drives the ma chine; I, a cog-wheel on the shaft of pulley H, which gears with large cog-wheels D and E, as shown, and drives them in the directions indicated by the arrows on these large cogwheels; J, a small cog-wheel possessing onehalf the number of teeth of the wheel D, and

Serial No. 308,325.

(No model.)

N is a cog-wheel driving a tympan or impressing cylinder which holds the paper against the plate-cylinder driven by cog-wheel G. \Vheel N is driven from cog-wheel M through the intermediate connecting gearwheel, N.

In Fig. 3, O is the tympan or impressing cylinder to platecylinder D, driven by the gearwheel J. (See Fig. 1.) O is a similar impressing-cylinder to hold the material being printed against plate-cylinder F, and it is driven by gear-wheel M. The gear-wheel K, Fig. 1, drives a like impressingeylinder to hold the material against plate-cylinder E, and gear-wheel Ndrivcs asimilar impressingcylinder to hold thematerial against the platecylinder driven by eogwheel G, said platecylinder being shown in broken view in Fig. 4., (marked G.)

P P are two flexible endless bands or belts for carrying the material being printed through the press. These bands are provided with holes P, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) which engage with sprockets P on each end of cylinder G. As this cylinder revolves, the bands are carried over the various cylinders and rollers around which they are passed.

QQ' areidler carrying-rollers forbands P P.

Q is a combined carrying and tension roller for these bands, and is provided at each end with a set-screw, Q, which sets against the stationary frame, and when turned, by means well known in the art, sets the roller Q back from or nearer to the frame A, thus tightening or loosening the bandsPP'. These bands P P are provided with grippers R R R, set upon cross-bars, which latter extend from band to band transversely of the machine. (See Fig. 2.) These grippers seize the paper and press its edge upon the cross-bar R, with which latter each series of grippers is provided. The cross-bar R and the bar upon which the grippers are mounted are attached to the two bands at their opposite ends, and serve to keep these bands apart and hold them in proper position in their traverse.

The grippers are the ordinary ones used in printingpresses to grip and hold the edge of the paper in its passage through the machine, and are operated in the way well known in the art. I will therefore give this mechanism no special description here. The endless bands P Ppass over and around the roller Q, between the impression-cylinder O and the platecylinder D, and between the impressioncylinder turned by the cog-wheel K and the plate-cylinder E. These two plate-cylinders are outside the bands, and the two impressioncylinders are on theinside thereof. Thence the bands pass over the carrying-roller Q, and between the impression-cylinder O and the platecylinder F, thence between the impressioncylinder N and the plate-cylinder G. The two last'named plate-cylinders are inside of the bands, and the twolast-namedimpressioncylinders upon the outsidethereof. Thusany sheet carried by the bands P P will be impressed upon. one side by the plate-cylinders D E and upon the other by the plate-cylinders F and G. Thence the bands P P pass over the tension-roller Q tothe point of starting. The traverse of the endless bands is of course continuous while the machine is in operation.

S is the receiving-board to catch the printed sheets as they fall from the grippers after they are printed.

T is an endless broad band or web of awidth equal to the length of the impression-cylinders O and that driven by cog-wheel N, which I will call N. This web T passes over the cylinders O N and downward around the roller T. Thelatter is set in along trough, T", and is packed upon one side by the spongeT. Upon the other side of roller T are scrapers TY, projecting from the inside of the trough and adapted to impinge against the band or web T as it travels through the trough. This band T is moved by the revolution of the cylinders O N, and as it passes down its outer surface is cleansed by the sponge T, and is scraped in its upward movement by the scrapers T. It will be seen that it must move with the same velocity as the bands P P, and consequently the same as that of the material being printed upon. Therefore, though it is pressed against one surface of the latter by the impressioncylinders, it will move evenly with the same and receive any surplus color off the said surface and prevent the smearing of the impression-rolls,which it protects. It will then keep on in its traverse and be cleansed and scraped in trough T and always present a clean surface to the material being treated. Very little of the coloring-matter will come off the paper in any event, whereby the sponge will not often require renewal and the scrapers will not often have to be cleaned.

U U U U are inking-rollers to furnish ink or colors to the types, cuts, or curved plates upon the cylinders D, E, F, and G. These rollers are made of the same materials as ordinary printers ink-rollers, and are mounted between curved arms U, "which are attached at one end to the standards U, which latter are secured firmly upon the main frame. arms U are shown short; butin practice they are about double the length shown, and may be made to carry any number of rollers.

V V V V are the adjustable bearings of the impression-cylinders, the adjustability being effected by the set-screws V V. These bearings are set in journal-boxes, (shown in dotted lines,) and are of the form common and well known in thearts. Their object is to set the impression-cylinders close to or farther away from Wv W are end views (partly in dotted lines) of two water-troughs, one under each of the plate-cylinders D E. These troughs are so close to the lower surfaces of these cylinders that when they are filled with moistened sponge the latter will come into contact with these surfaces and moisten the same when the machine is used for lithography or zincography, when such moistening is always necessary.

The band P, I make of strip steel, copper, brass, or other tenacious flexible material. Of course many equivalents of these materials will suggest themselves to the mind of a skilled mechanic-such as chain belting running on sprocket-wheels, wire cable, and linked plate belting, &c., one being used to each platecylinder. The ink is taken from the fountain by ordinary conveying-rolls, such as are well known to constructers of printing presses. This device being thus well known, I have not considered it necessary to show it in my drawings. When the ink is applied to the printing-rolls, it is evenly spread by the use of friction or cog-wheel gearing on the ends of said rolls, which rolls are also provided with cams to vibrate them, (the rolls.) This evenly breaks up or distributes the inkbefore and while it is being applied to the plate-cylinder.

This device is also well known.

' W is a color-reservoir. I feed one color to the cylinder D, a different color to cylinder The E, to imprint upon what I will denominate the upper side of the sheet of paper. For

the lower side I feed one color to the cylinder F and another to the cylinder G.

I do not limit myself to any number of plate and impression cylinders, and an increase in the number of these cylinders will render it possible to increase the number of colors impressed upon the sheet.

In describing the operation of my machine I shall describe it as adapted to printing upon separate and detached sheets.

The arrows indicate the directions of the various wheels and cylinders upon which they are placed.

The operation is as follows: The paper is passed sheet by sheet from the feed-board B, and is grasped by the gripping mechanism R R, and is carried between the first pairof cylinders, D O, and receives its first impression of color from the plate-eylinder D. It is then carried around between the successive pairs of impressing-cylinders and plate-cylinders until it reaches a point above the receiving-board S, when the grippers open and release their grasp, which allows it to fall down upon the receiving-board. The flexible bands P P act as carriers for the paper or material being printed, in combination with the gripping mechanism. The width of the paper being printed is less than the distance between the two inner edges of the two bands PP. The bands and the gripping mechanism also act as a delivery mechanism.

The ends of plate-cylinders F and G are really rollers for the bands, having, however, a motion not imparted by the bands, but by cog-gearing; and the sprockets described as placed upon cylinder G may, if desired, be placed upon cylinder F, or upon any of the inside rollers, to which motion is imparted by cog-wheels'equal in speed to that which it is desired to impart to the bands P P.

In my claims I shall call the carriers of the bands rollers, but I intend this to be a ge neric term to include sprocket-wheels and devices whose peripheries, revolving around centers, drive the bands by their contact therewith. These devices are mere substitutes one for another to accomplish the object attained by my rollers.

To facilitate the cleansing of the web T by the sponge in trough T, I keep the sponge saturated with a solution of caustic alkali, pulverized talcsaturated with benzine, or other cleansing agent.

The device shown in Fig. 2is, as mentioned above, a detached cross-sectional view of the attachment between the rack or arms U,which hold the inking-rollers, and the standards U. One of these arms, as well as one of thestandards, islocated upon each side of the machine to sustain the inking-rollers.

The attachment is made by means of a screw, X, which passes through the heel of the arm and engages by its screw-thread in a female screw-thread in standard U. The part of the screw setting in the heel ofthe arm is not threaded, and the hole in the heel of the arm which receives it is countersunk to receive the screw head. By such a construction I am enabled at any time to detach the whole inking-roller mechanism from the machine by removing the screws X.

It will be noted that the front and rear standards or supports of the frame A are widely separated one from the other, and the transverse rollers and cylinders are mounted upon these parts, thus leaving a large open trans verse interior space, which will enable an operator to enter into the interior of the machine and cleanse or adjust parts which would otherwise be difficult of access.

It willbe evidentthat my machinemay beused as a combined lithographic and letter press, as one of the plate-cylinders may print upon one side of the paper in type, while the next cylinder or cylinders may give a lithographic impression upon the other side. It may be used as an ordinary printing press, colorpress, or as a perfectingpress, designed to print patterns in colors on one or both sides of a sheet, or as an ordinary lithographic press to print in one or several colors on one or both sides of a sheet.

Any number of sets of plate and impression cylinders may be used for printingin several colors without departing from the main features of my invention, whether the printing is upon one or both sides of thepaper.

What I claim as new is- 1. In a printing-machine, the combination of the endless flexible bands P P, gripping mechanism R R, and rollers within the space inclosed by the bands, from one of which rollers motion isimparted to the bands, the whole constituting a carrier and deliverer for the material being printed, plate-cylinder D outside the carrier, with its compressing-cylinder 0 within the same, and the plate-cylinder F within the carrier and its compressing-cylinder 0 outside the carrier, substantially as described.

2. In a printing-machine, the combination of the endless flexible bands P P, gripping mechanism R R, and rollers within the space inclosed by the bands, from one of which rollers motion is imparted to the bands, the whole constituting a carrier and deliverer for the material being printed, and a plate-cylinder upon one side of the carrier to imprint the material being carried,with an impressing-cylinder upon the other side of the carrier, directly opposite the plate-cylinder, and band or web T, roller T, trough T, and sponge T, said band or web passing around rollers T, O, and N, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a printing-machine, the combination of the endless flexible bands P P, nipping mechanism R R, carried by the bands, and

rollers within the space inclosed by the bands, from one of which rollers motion is imparted the whole constituting a feeding to the bands,

I OC" device, a carrier while the sheet is being tached to the gear-wheels N and M on the printed on both sides before being released, outsideof the bands, substantially as and for [O and a deliverer'of the material printed, platethe purposes described.

cylinder D and E on the outside of the bands r and the impression-cylinders attached to gear WILLIAM TOYE' wheels J and K on the inside of the bands, Witnesses:

and plate-cylinders F and G on the inside 0t WM. H. CARSON,

the bands, and the impression-cylinders at- GEORGE E. BUOKLEY. 

